Above: Buchach Town Hall. 1750 - 1751 (picture taken by me in
August 2004). Designed by the architect
B. Meretyn, this structure is 35 m high. It is remarkable for its
sculptural compositions by Pinzel and is regarded as a
masterpiece of 18 th cent. civilian architecture.

BUCHACH (Old Polish name: Buczacz, used
before 1939 when it was part of Poland: 1349 - 1772, 1918 - 1939
and Austria 1772 - 1918) is small but astonishing town and rayon
(district) center in southern part of Ternopil oblast (region) in
Eastern part of historic area of Halychyna (Galicia) in Western
UKRAINE (former Soviet Union: 1939 - 1991, except the short
period of German occupation during Second World War). It is
situated 135 km south east from L'viv and 72 km south from
Ternopil, on the river Strypa, which is a tributary of Dnister.
First historical mention of Buchach dates back to 1397, shortly
after Buchach and whole Halychyna (Galician) principality were
conquered by Polish king Kasimierz in 1349. But town existed
earlier and Buchach area was part of prince Vasylko's Terebovlya
principality (which was incorporated into Galician principlaity
and greater Kyivan Rus in early Medieval times).

Buchach has numerous churches (Elevation of
Holy Cross Church, 1753 designed by I. Schlizer, St. Nicholas
Church from 1610, Prokrovska Church from 1764, also by Schlizer;
Monastyriok Church; Uspensky Roman Catholic Church) and monuments
(City Hall, Castle etc).

Picture above: One of Buchach churches (August,
2004)

Telephone code for Buchach is 03544 if you
phone within Ukraine and (+380) 3544 if you phone from outside.

Above: Buchach Castle...In the 16 th
cent. the city was ruled by Polish magnates of the Potocki family
who built a castle in the city (though Buchach castle structures
date as far as to the 14-th century. Sections of the defensive
walls have been preserved on a cliff overlooking the Strypa
river.

The castle was built in the Renaissance style
and reflects Podilian defensive architecture of the 14th - 16th
century). It was an important defensive outpost since in late
medieval times (1488 -1491) and 17 th century (1615 and 1618)
Buchach and area experienced Turkish and Tatar invasions.

Town gave the world many eminant figures such
as famous Jewish writer and Nobel prize winner Shmuel Agnon. Also
Sigmund Freuds parents were born and lived in Buchach. His
father, Jacob Freud, was born in 1835. Below: two photos of
Buchach Jewish Cemetery (August, 2004)

Copyrights@2001-2005
by ROMAN ZAKHARII.
All copyrights reserved!
Page created by Roman Zakharii from Berezhany
on 02.02.2001 in Oslo, Norway
(where I studied and worked for some years).
Updated on 15.01.2008 in Reykjavik, Iceland.Picture
to the right: me in Pidvysoke,
next to my grandparents' house.
Click on it for larger view